1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to playing card handling apparatus and particularly to playing card dealing shoes that read and report playing card rank before the cards are dealt to players at a casino table card game.
2. Background of the Art
Casinos and other forms of gaming are major international businesses having billion-dollar impact upon local economies. Wagering is effected at table games by customers (e.g., players) purchasing a casino's chips. The customer uses the chips as wagers on various games, such as blackjack, table poker, craps, roulette, baccarat and other table wagering games. The casino pays out winnings with additional chips based on the rules of the particular game. The casino collects the customers' chips for losing wagers.
Like many businesses, there are numerous clerical and statistical matters that are of concern to the operation of the business. In casinos, a critical issue is game security. This is important in every industry, but is particularly critical in the gaming industry because of the continuing exchange and flow of money (e.g., in the form of chips). Casinos have to monitor the actions of both the customers and the casino employees carefully to be certain that mistakes, cheating or theft does not occur in the casino. To be able to monitor security in the casinos, many different types of systems interact to provide a full spectrum base of information on events occurring in the casino. Among the systems used are security monitors (that watch and record every square foot of a casino floor and overlaps many areas with different angle shots), floorwalkers, pit crews, camera surveillance teams, gaming table security measures (e.g., anti-tampering security on slot-type machines, data security on processor-based gaming apparatus, central control of slot-type gaming apparatus), and the like. Newer electronic systems that have been discussed for years, but are only now being implemented include card reading shufflers, card reading trays, chip reading racks, scanning systems for reading chips in wagering positions, and the like.
Among the more assertive systems for blackjack (and other table game) security systems that have been disclosed and marketed is the MindPlay LLP casino table security system represented by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,533,662; 6,533,276; 6,530,837; 6,530,836; 6,527,271; 6,520,857; 6,517,436; 6,517,435; and 6,460,848.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,848 (Soltys) particularly deals with playing card reading systems and describes a system that automatically monitors playing and wagering of a game, including the gaming habits of players and the performance of employees. A card deck reader automatically reads a symbol from each card in a deck of cards before a first one of the cards is removed from the card reader. The symbol identifies a respective rank and suit of the card. In actual use, the complete set (e.g., deck or decks) of cards is removed from the card-reading tray and dealt by hand. A chip tray reader automatically images the contents of a chip tray, to periodically determine the number and value of chips in the chip tray, and to compare the change in contents of the chip tray to the outcome of game play for verifying that the proper amounts have been paid out and collected. A table monitor automatically images the activity occurring at a gaming table. Periodic comparisons of the images identify wagering, as well as the appearance, removal and position of cards and other game objects on the gaming table. A drop box automatically verifies an amount and authenticity of a deposit and reconciles the deposit with a change in the contents of the chip tray. The drop box employs a variety of lighting and resolutions to image selected portions of the deposited item. The system detects prohibited playing and wagering patterns, and determines the win/loss percentage of the players and the dealer, as well as a number of other statistically relevant measures. The measurements provide automated security and real-time accounting. The measurements also provide a basis for automatically allocating complimentary player benefits.
The operation of the Soltys card-reading system is described as feeding of the cards into the storage area of the rack, exposing them to reading sensors that read an edge of the cards. That system reads cards after they are put into a cradle (which is a housing sized for receiving playing cards), and therefore reads all of the cards (a plurality of cards) before a first card is removed from the cradle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,959 (Pfeiffer) describes a card handling apparatus having a card hopper adapted to hold from one to at least 104 cards, a card carousel having slots for holding cards, an injector for sequentially loading cards from the hopper into the carousel, output ports, ejectors for delivering cards from the carousel to any one of the output ports, and a control board and sensors, all housed in a housing. The apparatus is also capable of communicating with selectors, which are adjustable for making card selections. The injector has three rollers driven by a motor via a worm gear. A spring-loaded lever keeps cards in the hopper pressed against the first roller. The ejectors are pivotally mounted to the base of the housing beneath the carousel and comprise a roller driven by a motor via gears and a centripetal clutch. A control board keeps track of the identity of cards in each slot, card selections, and the carousel position. Cards may be ordinary playing cards or other cards with bar codes added for card identification by the apparatus. A unique carousel design reads cards as they are placed into compartments and an ejector pushes specific cards out of compartments to provide specific card sets.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,743 (NICOLETTI) describes a dispenser for playing cards comprising: a shoe adapted to contain a plurality of stacked playing cards, the playing cards including a leading card and a trailing card; the shoe including a back wall, first and second side walls, a front wall, a base, and an inclined floor extending from the back wall to proximate the front wall and adapted to support the playing cards; the floor being inclined downwardly from the back wall to the front wall; the front wall having an opening and otherwise being adapted to conceal the leading card; and the front wall, side walls, base and floor enclosing a slot positioned adjacent the floor, the slot being sized to permit a playing card to pass through the slot; card advancing means contacting the trailing card and adapted to urge the stacked cards down the inclined floor; card dispensing means positioned proximate the front wall and adapted to dispense a single card at a time, the card dispensing means including leading card contact means adapted for rotation about an axis parallel to the leading card, whereby rotation of the leading card contact means displaces the leading card relative to the card stack and into a predetermined position extending out of the shoe from the slot; and an endless belt located in the opening in the front wall for rotating the leading card contact means, the endless belt having an exterior surface securely engaging the leading card contact means and being adapted to be displaced by an operator. The Nicoletti device requires the use of a mechanical means to advance cards out of the shoe.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,039 (MILLER) describes a device for determining whether a dealer has a blackjack (a first two-card count of twenty-one) with a device for speeding the pace of a game of blackjack. The device is comprised of a housing having a top surface. A card reader for reading at least a portion of a playing card is located within the housing. An indicator cooperating with the card reader is provided to inform the dealer if his down card is of a desired value. Only a single card is read at the dealer's position. This device is little more than a table mounted system enabling reading of single cards to determine if a blackjack occurs to a dealer during a game of Twenty-One. This patent is not infringed by the Shuffle Master system. The device has no motor. It indicates the presence of an ace or ten as the hole card in the dealers Blackjack hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,546 (MEISSNER) describes a method and apparatus enabling a game to be played based upon a plurality of cards. An automated dealing shoe dispenses each of the cards and recognizes each of the cards as each of the cards is dispensed. Player stations are also included. Each player station enables a player to enter a bet, request that a card be dispensed or not dispensed, and to convert each bet into a win or a loss based upon the cards that are dispensed by the automated dealing shoe. This patent requires a system organization (betting and card calling functions at each player position and win-tracking as a result of play). The dealer shoe reads the cards one-at-a-time when driven by a single drive wheel into the card read station. The cards are fed from a sloped tray and are moved at constant speed to enable accurate reading of the cards.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,122 (ROBLEJO) relates to an apparatus for randomizing and verifying sets of playing cards. Also, the invention relates to a process providing such an apparatus; feeding to the apparatus one or more cards either after they have been played in a game or from an un-randomized or unverified set of cards; and manually retrieving a verified true set of cards from the apparatus. Also, the invention relates to a process of playing in a casino setting or simulated casino setting, a card game comprising providing such an apparatus, feeding unverified sets of playing cards to the apparatus, and recovering verified true sets of cards from the apparatus.
The invention is directed towards a complete apparatus with stacking compartments that sorts and/or randomizes cards. This function is not provided in the Smart Dealer Shoe that merely receives cards separately from a shuffler and then reads the cards. The cards are read in the apparatus of the Patent, but this apparatus is required to be a shuffling or sorting apparatus.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,605,334; 6,093,103 and 6,117,012 (McCrea) describe a secure game table system, adapted for multiple sites under a central control, for monitoring each hand in a live card game. A common deck identity code is located on each card. A shuffler has a circuit for counting the cards from a previous hand which are inserted into the shuffler and which reads the common identity code. The game control verifies that no cards have been withdrawn from the hand by a player or that new cards have been substituted. A unique code also placed on each card is read as the card is dealt to indicate the value and the suit. The game control stores this information in a memory so that a history of each card dealt is recorded. Sensors are located near each of the player positions for sensing the presence of a game bet and a progressive bet. A card sensor located near each player position and the dealer position issues a signal for each card received. The game control receives these signals and correlates those player positions having placed a game and/or progressive bet with the received cards. The game control at each table has stored in memory the winning combinations necessary to win the progressive jackpots. Since the game control accurately stores the suit and value of each card received at a particular player position, the game control can automatically detect a winning progressive combination and issue an award signal for that player position. The shoe element has the card reading components in the card withdrawal area. When integrated into a shuffling device, the camera may capture images at various positions before and at the delivery area.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,632 (ALBRECHT) describes an apparatus and method for sorting cards into a predetermined sequence. One embodiment provides a deck holding area in which cards are held for presenting a card to a read head for reading the characters on the face of the card. The apparatus also has a tray having a sequence of slots and a card moving mechanism for moving the presented card from the deck holding area into one of the slots. The tray is connected to a tray positioning mechanism for selectively positioning the tray to receive a card in one of the slots from the card moving mechanism. A controller is connected to the read bead, the card moving mechanism, and the tray positioning mechanism. The controller controls the reading of each of the cards by the read head and identifies the value of each card read, and also controls the card moving mechanism to move each of the cards to a slot of the tray positioned by the tray positioning mechanism according to the predetermined sequence of values. The method for sorting includes the step of providing a tray having a sequence of slots, determining a predetermined sequence of values for the cards, and reading the face of a card to determine the value the card. The method further includes moving the read card into one of the slots of the tray. The position of the slot into which the read card is moved corresponds to the position of the value in the predetermined sequence. This Patent requires the combination of a sorting/shuffling function in the apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,648 (JOHNSON) describes a collation and/or sorting apparatus for groups of articles is exemplified by a sorting and/or shuffling device for playing cards. The apparatus comprises a sensor (15) to identify articles for collation and/or sorting, feeding means to feed cards from a stack (11) past the sensor (15) to a delivery means (14) adapted to deliver cards individually to a preselected one of a storing means (24) in an indexable magazine (20). A microprocessor (16) coupled to the feed means (14), delivery means (18), sensor (15) and magazine (20) determines according to a preprogrammed routine whether cards identified by sensor (15) are collated in the magazine (20) as an ordered deck of cards or a randomly ordered or “shuffled” deck. The cards are read in the apparatus, but this is a shuffling or sorting apparatus.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,044 (BLOCK) describes a top of a card table with a card-dispensing hole there through and an arcuate edge is covered by a transparent dome shaped cover. A dealer position is centrally located on the tabletop. A plurality of player stations are evenly spaced along the arcuate edge. A rotatable card placement assembly includes an extendable arm that is connected to a card carrier that is operable to carry a card. In response to signals from the computer, the rotation of the assembly and the extension of the arm cause the card carrier to carry the card from the card-dispensing hole to either the dealer position or any of the player positions. The card carries a bar code identification thereon. A bar code reader of the card carrier provides a signal representation of the identification of the card to the computer. This Patent requires numerous structural features, not the least of which is the bubble. This Block system is a robotic system reading the cards as they are dispensed from a rotating card carrier.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,403,908 (Stardust) describes an automated method and apparatus for sequencing and/or inspecting decks of playing cards. The method and apparatus utilizes pattern recognition technology or other image comparison technology to compare one or more images of a card with memory containing known good images of a complete deck of playing cards to identify each card as it passes through the apparatus. Once the card is identified, it is temporarily stored in a location corresponding to or identified according to its position in a properly sequenced deck of playing cards. Once a full set of cards has been stored, the cards are released in proper sequence to a completed deck hopper. The method and apparatus also includes an operator interface capable of displaying a magnified version of potential defects or problem areas contained on a card which may then be viewed by the operator on a monitor or screen and either accepted or rejected via operator input. The device is also capable of providing an overall wear rating for each deck of playing cards. Stardust requires identification of cards and storage of individual cards with the identity of the card recognized in a storage position that becomes unique for a card value so that an ordered deck may be constructed in a final collection area. The cards are read and then stored in identified and recoverable positions. The identified cards are then directed, in ranked and suited order, into a final collection area where the ordered deck is formed. The intermediate storage device requires that individual ranked and suited cards are positioned in a temporary storage device between the input area and the removal area to increase the overall speed of card feeding with rank and suit reading and/or scanning to the dealer.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,217,447 (LOFINK) describes a method and system for generating displays related to the play of Baccarat is provided. Cards dealt to each of the Banker's and Player's hands are identified as by scanning and data signals are generated. The card identification data signals are processed to determine the outcome of the hand. Displays in various formats to be used by bettors are created from the processed identification signals including the cards of the hand played, historical records of outcomes and the like. The display can also show bettors expected outcomes and historical bests. Bettors can refer to the display in making betting decisions. The cards are read between the shoe and the player positions. The card reading of Lofink is done on removal of the card from the shoe and displayed on a video screen.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,819 (GARCZYNSKI) describes a module for announcing when a Dealer has blackjack without exposing the face of the Dealer's down card. The module scans a character from the Dealer's facedown standard playing card, compares the result of the scan with a set of references, and identifies the down card. The module also receives input from the Dealer as to the identity of the Dealer's up card, and announces whether the Dealer has blackjack or the hand continues. The module is designed to be mounted to a blackjack table such that the surface of the module on which the standard playing card rests while being scanned is in the plane of the surface of the blackjack table, allowing the Dealer to slide the down-card across the table and onto the scanner without lifting, and potentially exposing, the card's face. The module also removes the noise generated by a casino's heat, dust, cigarette and cigar ashes, and lint from the felt of the blackjack table, during the scanning process. The module further optimizes the scan of the character on the standard playing card by controlling the light intensity emitted by the components of the module used to illuminate the character.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,505 (GARCZYNSKI) describes a dual card-scanning module that announces when the symbols of a face-up standard playing card and a facedown standard playing card achieve a desired combination. The module has a scanner system that illuminates and scans at least a portion of a symbol of the face-up standard playing card and at least a portion of a symbol of the face-down standard playing card and stores the results thereof in a first and second array device, respectively. The module also has a guide to assist in receiving and positioning the cards such that the face-up standard playing card is above and aligned with the facedown-standard playing card. When in this position, the symbol portions of the face-up and the facedown-standard playing cards can be scanned by the array devices to generate respective scanning results. The module compares the scanning results with a memory storing a plurality of references representing respective symbols of the standard playing cards to determine if the cards have achieved the desired combination. The card is not read in the dealer's shoe, but at the dealer's hand position.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,039,650; and 5,722,893 (HILL) is directed to a shoe of the type described wherein the shoe has a card scanner which scans indicia on a playing card as the card moves along and out of a chute by manual direction by the dealer in the normal fashion. The scanner can be one of several different types of devices that will sense each card as it is moved downwardly and out of the shoe. A feed forward neural-network that is trained, using error back-propagation to recognize all possible card suits and card values sensed by the scanner. Such a neural-network becomes a part of a scanning system which provides a proper reading of the cards to determine the progress of the play of the game including how the game might suffer if the game players are allowed to count cards using a card count system and perform other acts which would limit the profit margin of the casino. The shoe is also provided with additional devices that make it simple and easy to record data relevant to the play of the game. For instance, the shoe has means for accommodating a “customer-tracking-card” or preferred customer card which reads the personal information of a cardholder from a magnetic strip on the card and this information travels with the preferred customer from game to game, throughout a casino, which the customer likes to play. An LCD display can also be part of the shoe and this display can be used to enter and retrieve vital player information as deemed necessary or desirable to the customer file opened when the magnetic stripe reader reads the preferred customer card with the customer name and account number embedded within the cards magnetic stripe. Scanned information is fed to a computer for extensive analysis.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,166 (LORSON) describes a system for monitoring play of a card game between a dealer and one or more players at a playing table, comprising:
(a) a card-dispensing shoe comprising one or more active card-recognition sensors positioned to generate signals corresponding to transitions between substantially light background and dark pip areas as standard playing cards are dispensed from the card-dispensing shoe, without generating a bit-mapped image of each dispensed standard playing card; and
(b) a signal processing subsystem adapted to:                receive the transition signals generated by the active card-recognition sensors;        determine, in real time and based on the transition signals, playing-card values for the dispensed standard playing cards; and        determine, in real time, a current table statistical advantage/disadvantage relative to the players for playing cards remaining in the card-dispensing shoe.The system infers information on the distribution of cards in the discard shoe from knowledge of the sequence of cards dealt during game play. When signaled, the system determines appropriate sequence, number, and positions of the pre-shuffle plug locations of the cards in the discard shoe. The system transmits the pre-shuffle card plug information to an output device driver assembly that actuates the desired output devices. In one implementation, the system output devices are light-emitting diodes, but any number of electric, acoustic, or mechanical devices could be utilized. The dealer plugs the card segments as directed by the system output devices and signals completion by operating the control switch discussed above. The process is repeated until the card segments are properly positioned and then the system transmits an output signal to direct the dealer to shuffle the cards. This pre-shuffle mixing technique significantly reduces the post-shuffle statistical deck variations and improves current pre-shuffle mixing practices which are performed arbitrarily by the dealer and do not ensure adequate and consistent distribution of the card values following the shuffle. During play, the system monitors the cards received by the dealer and actuates an output device any time the dealer's first two cards consist of an ace and any ten-valued card. When the first card received by the dealer is an ace, the passive table mounted sensor delays actuation of the output device until all players have had the opportunity to place an optional blackjack game wager commonly referred to as insurance.        
U.S. Pat. No. 5,941,769 (ORDER) describes an automatically working apparatus that will register and evaluate all phases of the run of the game automatically. This is achieved by a card shoe with an integrated device for recognition of the value of the drawn cards (3′) (optical recognition device and mirroring into a CCD-image converter); photodiodes (52) arranged under the table cloth (51) in order to register separately the casino light passing through each area (53, 54) for placing the gaming chips (41) and areas (55, 56) for placing the playing cards (3) in dependence of the arrangement or movement of the jettons and playing cards on the mentioned areas; a device for automatic recognition of each bet (scanner to register the color of the jettons, or a RFID-system comprising a S/R station and jettons with integrated transponder); an EDP program created in accordance with the gaming rules to evaluate and store all data transmitted from the functional devices to the computer; and a monitor to display the run of the game and players' wins.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,536 (HILL) describes a player tracking system that requires at least: A card delivery and player proficiency evaluation system for playing a card game comprising: a) a housing configured to store a plurality of playing cards and configured for dispensing cards to a number of players; b) a scanner configured to scan each of the cards dispensed from the housing and to generate a scanner signal representative of the identity of each card dispensed to each of the players; and c) a processor coupled to the scanner and configured to process the scanner signal to identify each of the cards dispensed to each of the players playing the card game and to determine at least one statistic in the play of the game relative to predetermined criteria to thereby evaluate the proficiency of each of the players.
WO 00/51076 (DOLPHIN ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES PTY. LTD.) describes a card inspection device for playing cards. The device has a loading area for two or more decks of cards, a feed roller and a loading area through which cards are urged one at a time by the feed roller. A digital camera is used to image cards in the loading area through a window.